The Office of the Traffic Commissioner (”OTC”) has issued updated guidance on making a vehicle operator licence application. Key updates include:

List of Traffic Areas

The guidance now contains a list of the eight traffic areas of Great Britain. Each area has a Traffic Commissioner who is responsible for issuing licences. The new guidance lists which counties, boroughs and districts are covered by each traffic area.

When applying for vehicle operator licences, an application must be made to each traffic area where you have an operating centre. Checking the list allows operators to apply to the correct traffic area.

Convictions and Cautions that Must be Declared

The guidance details whose convictions must be declared when making an application.

It also includes which convictions and offences must be declared, namely:

• serious offences in which certain penalties are given (set out in the guidance); and
• road transport offences committed in the UK or abroad (set out in the guidance).

We advise Operators to check the list of offences in the guidance to see what must be declared.

Whilst spent convictions do not need to be declared, the guidance suggests that the Traffic Commissioner can ask for details of older offences and decide if they are relevant. It is critical that legal advice is sought before disclosing spent offences, as the circumstances where such disclosure can be made are extremely limited.

The Traffic Commissioner will assess your good repute. They may decide that you are not of good repute if you have more than one conviction for a serious offence or multiple road transport offences.

Statutory Advertisement Template

The new guidance contains a template for making a newspaper advertisement and example adverts. HGV Operators must follow this template when making a statutory advertisement in a newspaper. It includes:

• your business details,
• operating centre locations and vehicle numbers; and
• who can make “representations” against your application.

The guidance also explains how to upload or scan the full newspaper advert to the application.

Operators must follow this guidance when making a vehicle operator licence application. We recommend that specific legal advice be sought when making an application, particularly where convictions are to be declared.

A link to the latest Traffic Commissioner guidance on applications can be found via Vehicle operator licence applications: guidance - GOV.UK.